GUNS Magazine August 2014 Digital Edition - Page 22

thE .38 spEcial still “special” after more than 100 years. he .38 Special is the most popular centerfire revolver cartridge ever, and still going strong. Not bad for a round introduced in 1899. Originally designed by Smith & Wesson for the US military after the .38 Long Colt was deemed inadequate, it also served as the standard, American police round until semi-autos took over during the past quarter-century. It was once the centerfire target handgun round, though today the formal bull’s-eye shooting it dominated isn’t as popular as games more suitable to semi-autos. The .38 Special also works great for hunting smaller game, and while today’s handgun hunters consider it inadequate for big game, quite a few deer have been taken with the old round. Today, however, the .38 Special is primarily a self-defense cartridge. Hard as might be for many enthusiasts to understand, not everybody who wants a self-defense handgun wants to be an expert. Instead they want a handgun that’s easy to shoot, both in recoil and “fire-control system,” and T John barsness The three test guns (above) were a 4-inch Smith & Wesson Model 66, a 3-inch Rossi Model 88 and a 2-inch Smith & Wesson Model 37 Airweight. The Rossi (below) proved to be very accurate with the right loads, though far more finicky than the S&W 66. uses easily available ammunition. A double-action .38 Special revolver is the logical choice. New buyers aren’t usually aware the .38 Special actually uses bullets 0.357inch in diameter, and if told why their eyes would glaze over. The original .38 revolver cartridge, the Short Colt, originated back when cap-and-ball revolvers were being modified to shoot newfangled brass cartridges. One of the mostconverted was the .36 Navy Colt, which actually fired a round ball of around .38 caliber. The original .38 Short Colt cartridge had a case and bullet diameter of approximately 0.380-inch, the size of the cylinders in the Navy Colt, with the smaller rear end of the bullet held by the case mouth. (This same arrangement is still used in .22 Long Rifle cartridges.) After revolvers were designed for cartridges, Colt created the .38 Long Colt by lengthening the .38 Short’s case, but bullet diameter was approximately 0.36 so the lubricated portion of the bullet would fit inside the case. During the transition to smokeless powder, bullet diameter was standardized at 0.357- to 0.358-inch in both the Short and Long Colts. The .38 Special is an elongated .38 Long Colt, designed in 1899 by Smith & Wesson. The Long Colt had been the official US Army cartridge since 1892, and had been found lacking in stopping power. It proved inadequate again when the US claimed the Philippines after the Spanish-American War and natives rose in rebellion, so S&W brought out a more powerful round. According to Smith & Wesson historian Roy Jinks, the .38 Special was initially chambered in the .38 Hand Ejector Model of 1899. The ammunition was loaded with around 21 grains of black powder and a 158-grain bullet. Smokeless loads soon appeared with similar ballistics, but Phil Sharpe, in his massive book Complete Guide to Handloading, notes that charge was used in the original “balloon” style cases, made of thin, folded brass. Sharpe’s loading data for modern cases includes one black powder load, 18.0 grains of FFg, giving the 158-grain bullet 820 fps. Ammo factories and handloaders continually attempted to hop up the .38 Special, but due to the limitations of the original revolvers the sensible solution was to lengthen the case yet again and offer it in stronger firearms. The result was 1934’s .357 Magnum, a cooperative creation involving Colonel D.B. 22 WWW.GUNSMAGAZINE.COM • AUGUST 2014